Additional infoProduced by Sascha Paeth & Epica
Recorded at the Gate Studio in Wolfsburg, Germany between September and November 2011
Bass Guitar recorded at The Huts Studio in Antwerp, Belgium
Piano and Key-solo recorded at CFJ Studios in Oss, The Netherlands
Engineering by Miro
Mixed at The Gate Studio & The Pathway Studio in Wolfsburg, Germany, November and December 2011
Mastered at The Gate Studio in Wolfsburg, Germany, December 2011
All music arranged by Epica, Sascha Paeth, Miro and Amanda Somerville
Orchestral arranged by Miro
Vocal lines co-written by Sascha Paeth

Other versions from the album:
• The standard edition features the 13 tracks
• The CD + shirt edition contains the standard edition of the album, along with a t-shirt in the size of choice.
• The digipak edition contains the standard album and the bonus track "Nostalgia".
• The 2-LP white vinyl edition is limited to 150 copies and contains an A2-sized poster.
• The 2-LP black vinyl edition contains an A2-sized poster
• The mailorder edition, limited to 500 copies, contains a wooden box, which includes limited digipak, exclusive instrumental CD as bonus, artwork postcards and certificate.
• The American edition features 13 tracks + the bonus track Twin Flames (Soundtrack Version)
• Instrumental 2 LP version (released by Nuclear Blast on 01 June 2012)

IMPORTANT!
On a first version of the album, the song Serenade of Self-Destruction misses Mark's and Simone's vocals.
In apology Nuclear Blast released a free vocal version of "Serenade of Self-Destruction".
It is available for CD owners here:
http://www.nuclearblast.de/de/data/bands/epica/releases/track-download.html

Epica is back with a new album, trying to continue their success over the past years and to satisfy their many fans, even though they're not experimenting with a whole new approach this time; the result is something different from Design Your Universe.

Requiem for the Indifferent is less aggressive and more accessible, but at the end of the day it's just as enjoyable. The album has its flaws like every other Epica album, but almost every song has enough interesting moments to look forward to. It can be the professional choirs, some good riffs and solos, some well timed growls or Simone's amazing vocals. But you also have to endure the average done-to-death stuff that keep appearing throughout your lengthy listen.

So I've finally marshaled my thoughts on Requiem for the Indifferent. I love Epica, they are my third favorite band, but when I heard this album I didn't fanboy out, I just sat there in confusion unsure of what to think. What's really different about this album is that's it's not as inherently catchy as their previous material, it's slower as well and a lot more progressive. Ultimately this album really doesn't stack up to the rest of their discography and especially not Design Your Universe which is literally one song away from being perfect; they clearly decided to experiment with this album which I have no problem with, but in music one must be careful with experimentation because while in this case it's not completely disastrous it could have been so much worse. In some cases that experimentation on this album works well and it was somewhat refreshing.

In my opinion Simone has a strong vocal performance on this album. I'm not blown away and frankly I do think she is slightly overrated, but her voice is not the definite highlight of this album. Vocally I'd give it maybe an 8, which is very good. But the real highlights for me are all the details in the developed arrangements, the intelligence of the thought-provoking lyrics and the sophisticated strong sense of melody that only grows with time as each new listening reveal more of what this masterpiece has to offer. Bear in mind, I have not heard any previous Epica album. But I am totally blown away by this one!

You should check the previous one. Many agree that it's very similar to this one but better.

You should check the previous one. Many agree that it's very similar to this one but better.

Thanks for the recommendation! Yes, I've noticed this here and there, very curious about their back-catalogue for sure! Would you say Requiem For The Indifferent is the weakest of the two? What's the major difference if there is any in particular?

Thanks for the recommendation! Yes, I've noticed this here and there, very curious about their back-catalogue for sure! Would you say Requiem For The Indifferent is the weakest of the two? What's the major difference if there is any in particular?

I think Epica keeps progressing each album and this is no exception, but that is on a more objective point of view since I like the previous one over this one. Thing is the last one saw a notable change in the sound of Epica with a evident progressive approach, the change of lead guitar player (and with it, sweet-ass guitar solos) and the whole sound getting rawer.
Aside from that, I just like the songs from DYU a bit more beside of all the artistic development from album to album.

I think Epica keeps progressing each album and this is no exception, but that is on a more objective point of view since I like the previous one over this one. Thing is the last one saw a notable change in the sound of Epica with a evident progressive approach, the change of lead guitar player (and with it, sweet-ass guitar solos) and the whole sound getting rawer.
Aside from that, I just like the songs from DYU a bit more beside of all the artistic development from album to album.

That's nice! It seems Design Your Universe will be right up my alley then.

Average.Not bad but not good..This is the album of epica I like less! The Phantom Agony is still my favourite of them. The bad thing of 'requiem' is that is less symphonic and more progressive. I love progressive metal but Epica should be Epic(a)
The orchestra had to be louder. And I don't like Simone's performance here.I didn't hear any 'opera singing'. I prefer her voice in the first three albums. Simone said that she don't like her voice in the first three albums Anyway , I like the last two albums but I miss the 'old' epica.

Chriwalker - 22.01.2013 at 14:50

I really did like this album! Really had trouble getting into the older ones since I found it a bit to much. Need to try again. Overall RftI is a really great record and one of the best of 2012

I love Epica, but I feel that this album is a step down from their previous work. DYU had so many great memorable tracks, but I feel like RFI only has a few. It's still a great album but I hope they can deliver something better in the future, something more amazing, like what we are used to getting from Epica.

In the last few weeks this album somehow managed to amaze me. Yes, it's different, but despite fails in mastering, musically it's one of the best of Epica's. Fresh, progressive and very interesting. I'm even a bit disappointed, that it didn't get the recognition it deserves, and now Epica are returning to the old sound, which was also good, but I would like to see where could they go naturally after "Requiem". Nevertheless, a great album to enjoy.

In the last few weeks this album somehow managed to amaze me. Yes, it's different, but despite fails in mastering, musically it's one of the best of Epica's. Fresh, progressive and very interesting. I'm even a bit disappointed, that it didn't get the recognition it deserves, and now Epica are returning to the old sound, which was also good, but I would like to see where could they go naturally after "Requiem". Nevertheless, a great album to enjoy.

+1

On first listen, I found it really hard to get into and did not like it, now after many many listens, its one of my favourite Epica albums and I really enjoy it. I love the progressive sound that they've had since Design Your Universe and hope there is more of that to come

The thing I really don't like is the production/mix, it could have had a much bigger impact if that was better.